Saturday, September 12, 2009

Remembering 9/11/01

I remember every detail of September 11, 2001. Like everyone else, I sat glued to a television screen, not believing that America could be attacked.But we were attacked. Our Freedom was attacked. Our nation was attacked! Our belief in God was attacked!As I sat watching the smoke, the towers, the people... I prayed to God! I heard of more attacks, the pentagon and Flight 93. I saw the towers collapse. I prayed to God. I was not alone.Churches were flooded with people turning to God for answers. Bookstores were short of bibles as the people ran to buy them. Lives were changed because people turned to God.People gave from their abundance, and from their lack, to help those in need. People gave their food. People gave their time to help. People gave their prayer. People gave blood. People gave unselfishly.America, for the first time in decades, actually came together, as One Nation Under God. It was an awesome event to see. People united in their faith and goal.And then we began to hear the word "tolerance". We must tolerate, because everyone has a right to live. (removed my comment here...)When we began to "tolerate", we began to separate. We were no longer united. We tolerated until we have forgotten.I remember the planes, flaming out of the sides of the towers. I remember ash-covered people, in shock, walking dazed from the buildings. I remember seeing people jump, in desperation. I remember hearing "Another attack - the pentagon!" I remember the frenzy of information as planes were sought, and hearing that there was still one more plane... I remember, vividly, and with horrifying detail, how slowly each tower seemed to fall, before our eyes. I remember seeing this on live tv! Watching the mass death of an attack on American soil. No one played any commercials.The world stopped a couple of days, as Americans united to help each other. People drove hundreds of miles to give someone water or a sandwich. Everyone prayed together. Strangers talked, hugged, cried together. UNITED!!! ONE NATION UNDER GOD.9/11/09 I tried to watch a memorial. News talked about a few victims, showed a scene of a service or two. Families read names at the sites, and tv flashed them quickly across the tv screen. No one wore a flag lapel pin. No one was united. We have tolerated until we have forgotten.I will not forget. I remember.